Sleepless Nights and Dancing Lights
by theoriginalbritt
Summary: Set after The Slave of Duty. Emily is having trouble after the case, so she goes to see JJ. No pairings, just friendship
1. Chapter 1

_Britt here. Okay so first off, I want to apologize for not updating A Bond that Cannot Break. I've been super busy and on top of that, I apparently have writers block!! It's extremely frustrating, but fear not my friends, I believe I finally have something to go on for it! Moving on, this is just something I thought of while sitting in class ignoring my mentally unstable teacher go on about the sexual ways of chickens. I kid you not. I think his frontal lobes are damaged or something, but hey, whatever floats his wacky little boat. Anyhoo, I'm planning on it being just 2 chapters, one from Emily's point of view, the second from JJ's. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own criminal minds, the characters or the episodes. If i did, Emily would be with Hotch, Morgan would be with Garcia, JJ would be the same, Reid would be with Austin, and Rossi would be in a box somewhere in the middle of no wheresville._

_Happy readings! _

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Emily bursts lightly through the doors of the FBI building, looks around for a second, and starts walking. She goes quickly through the night, towards the place that she always goes when she needs to think. The streets are crowd less, with the people of the city tucked safely away in their homes, oblivious of the world around them and the dangers it brings. The dangers that she sees every day, that haunt her every dream.

She reaches her destination, a park on the edge of the city. She sits on a bench and sighs. This past case was especially hard. The fact that she resembled the victims didn't help at all. Haley's death and the possibility of Hotch leaving really brought the weight down on their already sore shoulders. She completely understands why he would leave, but it doesn't make it any easier.

She shakes her head as she remembers her little "talk" with the unsub when they had caught him.

"_Fantasy's over."_

_She looks over at where the rescued victim had fought back. She gets closer to his face, her gun only inches from his face._

_  
"Is that what you did to them? You hit them to shut them up and then forced them to play along with your sick delusion?" she spat out_

"_I loved them," he replied, making me more furious_

"_Huh. You're finally going to meet your soul mate, Joe - in prison.  
Only you're not going to be able to push him around like you did those women.  
And when he comes for you  
in the middle of the night  
when you're least expecting it  
will you do me a favor?"_

_She didn't wait for him to respond_

_  
"Play along"_

She grits her teeth and tries to banish the anger from her thoughts. Suddenly she is exhausted, leaning her head back she wishes she could go home and sleep, but she knows she won't. She hasn't slept well since Hayley's death; the nightmares have been hell on her. She can tell the others are starting to notice, she's been more irritable lately. Her heart aches as she recalls snapping at JJ the other day, the nightmare had been especially bad so she hadn't even caught two hours of sleep.

All JJ did was spill a little coffee on Emily's pants, it wasn't even a big deal. When JJ tried to help clean it up, Emily just spat out a nasty comment and brushed her off. JJ was quick to forgive and for that Emily is extremely grateful. The blonde has been so good to her, especially recently. She always knows when Emily needs to talk, or when she just needs a pat on the knee or shoulder, so she knows that she's not alone.

Feeling very lonely all of the sudden, she gets up and starts to walk again, hoping that her feet know where they're going, because her brain certainly doesn't. The neon lights of the different open signs bounce off of her face and hair, creating a colorful dance that no one sees. She shivers and crosses her arms across her chest, hoping they'll provide a little warmth against the cold December air. There is no wind tonight, everything is still and silent, just the way she likes it. She looks up to see where she is. Apparently her feet wanted her to go to the very person she had been thinking of earlier.

"_Huh, maybe my brain is working…"_

She lets her feet take her to the front door of her friend's house. Pausing, she wonders if she should knock. She glances at her watch for the first time since she left work.

2 a.m.

"_Crap"_ she thinks _"I'll be lucky to sleep for an hour tonight, nice job Emily." _

She waits a few more seconds, then decides to go through with it. She knocks quietly on the door.

Nothing.

She knocks again, this time just a little louder. After a couple of seconds she hears someone stumbling to the door.

JJ opens it and Emily can't help but chuckle silently at the sight of her. Her hair is a mess, she's wearing blue and white striped pajama pants with a blue tank top, both slightly wrinkled. Her eyes go from daggers, to confused, to concern in only a matter of milliseconds.

"Emily? What's wrong?" JJ asks quickly, looking her friend over for any sign of physical damage.

"Sorry to wake you JJ, but I uh…I just…I can't…" she sighs in frustration about her sudden inability to form complete sentences.

JJ's face softens immediately with understanding. "Come in, I'll make some cocoa." She smiles warmly and opens the door wider, allowing Emily to step into the warmth of the house.

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_Reviews mean love and love means a happy britt!!_


	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry for the long wait! Ive been overloaded with so many things that i shall not bore you into the next decade with. Anyhoo, this chapter is from JJ's pov**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock._

Jennifer Jereau sits up in her bed, confused and frustrated at the fact that she is being awakened at…she looks at her alarm clock…2 a.m.! She pushes herself quietly off the bed and makes her way to the front door, grumbling to herself.

"Who in their right mind goes to see someone at 2 a.m.?" she mumbles angrily to the empty room.

She opens the door and finds none other than Emily Prentiss standing on the other side, looking exhausted and hold on,_ "Is she laughing?"_ JJ notices something else about her, she looks, lost. She furrows her brow, she was worried about Emily after she heard what happened with the unsub. She wanted to talk to her about it, but when she got back to the building, Emily had already left.

"Emily? What's wrong?" she asks, realizing that she's been staring at her friend in silence for a few minutes.

"Sorry to wake you JJ, but I uh…I just…I can't…" Emily sighs in frustration and JJ realizes what's going on.

"_She's asking for help. Well, trying to, at least."_ She nods her head, letting her friend know that she understands.

"Come in, I'll make some cocoa." She sees Emily hesitate, then nod and step into the house.

"Can I take your coat?"

Emily only nods, then takes off her coat and hands it to JJ. JJ puts it in the closet and proceeds to watch Emily. She's shaking slightly, probably from the cold. Her skin looks pale, well, more pale than usual. JJ prepares herself for where she looks next, the eyes. Emily's are dark, filled with pain and sadness. She walks over to Emily and gently grabs a hold of her hand.

"Emily?" She gets no response. Emily just continues to stare at the floor.

JJ moves closer, "Em? Em c'mon, it's me, JJ."

Slowly, Emily lifts her head, her eyes meeting JJ's. They are rimmed with tears and sorrow. JJ doesn't say anything as she pulls Emily into a hug, wrapping her arms around her neck. At first, Emily just stands there stiffly, but then her arms are around JJ's waist so tightly JJ thought her ribs might crack. Emily's hushed sobs echo through the darkened silence as JJ stands there with one arm around her friend's neck while the other hand runs through Emily's dark hair in an attempt to soothe her. It was like that for a while, they just stood there and held each other, neither wanting to let go because they were afraid that if they do, they'll collapse to the ground.

JJ notices that Emily's sobs have stopped, so she pulls back a little to look at her. She sees that Emily's eyes aren't full of sorrow anymore, in fact, they're the clearest they've been in a while.

"Are you gonna be okay?" JJ already knows the answer, but she wants to hear it from Emily.

Emily looks back at the floor, engaging in an internal battle. "Yeah" she whispers, more to herself than JJ. She looks back up.

"With a friend like you, I know I'll be okay." She gives JJ a watery smile and squeezes her hand. "Thank you, for everything." She says softly.

"Always, Em" JJ answers assuringly. Emily goes to the closet and gets her coat.

"I should get going, saying it's late would be kind of an understatement." She says as she pulls on her coat. JJ grins and gives a little laugh.

"_Leave it to Emily to crack a joke after having an emotional breakdown"_ JJ smiles again, that's one of the many good things about Emily Prentiss, she always knows how to make you laugh. She pulls the door open.

"Let me know that you got home okay" she says in her this-is-not-a-request tone.

Emily smiles, "You bet" and then she walks out into the dimly lit street.

JJ sighs as she watches her closest friend fade away.

"Yeah Em, you'll be okay."

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**Let me know what you think?**


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